Pen point



March 1936,

' FIG.

J. A; FA

Filed March 14, 1934 Patented "10,

UNITED STATES PATENT oFF cE PEN POINT Joseph Arthur Fayette, Attleboro, Masa, assignor I to General Plate Company, Attleboro, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts v Application Marchll, 1934, Serial No. 115,432

7 Claims. (01; 120-109)- This invention relates to pen points, and with regard to certain more specific features, to pen points particularly adapted for use inconnection with fountain pens.

Among theseveral objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a pen point .of the class described which is so composed of precious metal, such-as gold, as to effectively withstand the cor- "rosive action of the ink used therewith in the operating parts thereof, but at the same time to 20 which will be indicatedin the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is-a plan view of a pen point embodying 25 the present invention;

Fig. 2 is across section of a blank from which the pen point of the present invention is formed;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the blank of Fig. 2, after certain additional operations have been 30 performed thereon;

Fig. 4 is a cross section similar to Fig. 3 illus- 'trating an alternative form of the blank; and,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the finished blank, showing how the penpoints are stamped 35 therefrom; l

Similar reference. characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 1, nu-

40 meral l indicates generallya pen point of the type commonly used in fountain pens and elsewhere, comprising a body portion 3 and a pair of nibs 5. The nibs 5 taper to a point I, which is the writing point of the pen. The nibs 5 are separated by a slot or channel 9, which inwardly terminates in a hole It.

the pen point is a usual article of commerce.

In pen points of the class hereinconcerned, and particularly in pen points suitable for as- 1 sembly into fountain pens, the capillary flow of ink down the channel '9 between the nibs 5 to the point "T. must not be impeded by' the roughening of thcedges of the channel 9 (as by corrosion or the accumulation of the products of corro- 55 sion), if a free writing pen, is to be the result.

As thus far described,

Therefore, a metal must be used which can withstand the attack of the ink and the atmosphere.

It has heretofore been common practice to make such pen points as a whole of a 14 karat or higher gold alloy. Under ordinary circumstances, 14 5 karat gold is the least expensive metal that will meet therequirements imposed. When such pen points are made in their entirety from such 14 karat gold, they are, as a matter of necessity, relatively expensive.

It will be noted, however, that the necessity for employing this gold alloy applies only to such I portions of the pen as, through corrosion, would impede the writing effectiveness of the pen.

,These portions, specifically, comprise the nibs 5, 15

which include the channel 9, and the region surrounding the hole H. In general, it may be said that the portion of the pen point to the right of points slightly behind the shoulders l3 in Fig. 1, are those which must be protected against corrosion. The remainder 'of the pen, comprising the body 3, need only be sufficiently corrosion-resistant to maintain a good appearance.

In the present invention, in order to conserve gold. and thereby to economize in the manufacture of pen points, the pen point is so constructed that its effective portions are made of solid, corrosion-resistant gold, while the body portion.

. where corrosion is not so important, is made of a relatively base or cheaper metal plated with only suflicient gold to maintain its appearance. Since the combined cost of the" plating operation and the base metal are considerably less than the value of the gold saved, a worthwhile economy is thereby eifected.

It is also within the scope of the. invention to. utilize metals "other than gold for the working portions of the pen point, but it is to be understood that such other metals should have sub- 40 stantially equivalent corrosion' resisting characteristics to those of the golditself.

As pen points of the class herein concerned are frequently subjected to rather severe stresses and are often abused when in use,'the pen point of the present invention must be so joined, together in its various parts that its strength, as a complete unit, will compare favorably to the strength of pen points made from a solid sheet of one metal. The manner in which the joining of the various parts of the pen to secure such strength is achieved, is one of the primary features of the present inven tion. As a result of the manner of joining herein described, pen points made in accordance with the present invention possess all of the more desirable qualities of solid gold pen points in spite of their lower cost.

In manufacturing a pen point in accordance with the present invention, I start with a block or bar of a solid gold alloy (for example, ll karat gold) indicated by numeral l5 in Fig. 2, and a block or bar of the desired base metal or alloy H. The base metal or alloy may be any one which can be satisfactorily welded or soldered to the gold,

.but should preferably be one that is resistant to severe corrosion, although it is not essential that it be resistant to discoloration by the ink. As an example of a suitable alloy for this purpose, the following composition may be used:

Per cent by weight Palladium 25 Copper 25 Silver 50 The bars I 'I are joined along machined contiguous saw-tooth edges 21' as shown in Fig. 2. The joiningis eflected byfirst properly cleaning the juxtaposed edges of the bars l5 and II. This cleaning may be done mechanically or chemically, orby both means. The bars l5 and I1 are then placed together with a sheet of suitably shaped solder l9, such as silver solder,'laid in place between them. The overall edgewise dimension C of the two bars is determined by the length desired for the finished pen, whereas the proportional edgewise dimensions A and B of the two bars are determined in accordance with the desired proportional length of the ink channel in the pen point. The thicknesses and lengths of the bars are determined by the rolling and stamping operations which are to follow, as will readily be apparent.

It is to be understood that the drawing of the present application is not to be considered accurate as regards relative dimensions, particularly with regard to the saw-tooth edges 21 and the solder layer l9, which have been relatively enlarged to a considerable extent in order to clearly show the invention. The sheet of solder IQ, for example, may be .002 of an inch in thickness in order to achieve a satisfactory joint. The assembled blocks l5 and II with the solder layer therebetween are then clamped together or otherwise placed under pressure and placed in a furnace and thus fused or welded together.

In place of the layer of solder 19, it is also possible to weld the gold block l5 to the base metal block ll directly, the heat being sufiicient to cause interpenetration of the gold alloy and the base metal so as to secure a good joint.

After this joining has been achieved, the surfaces 2| of the now composite block are machined, if necessary, cleaned as before, and then assembled with additional solder layers 23 and thin gold alloy sheets 25 as shown in Fig. 3. The thickness of the gold sheets 25, with respect to the thickness of the composite block, is determined to suit the desired ratios in the finished pen. As a convenient example, it may be stated, however, that the layer 25 which is to be on the outer surface of the finished pen may be made about of the combined thickness of the composite block, and the layer 25 which is to be on the inner surface of the resulting pen may be made about A; of the combined thickness, in each case neglecting the thickness of the solder layers The composite block shown in Fig. 3 is then clamped together. and subjected to welding as heretofore described. In the course of such welding, the soldered layers 23 are partially absorbed into the other layers, and are partially squeezed out at the ends of the block In most cases, it is desirable to join the gold and base metal bars in the first assembly in dimensions considerably in excess of those ultimately desired, and then, either before or after adding the layers 25, to roll the blank to reduce its thickness. This is for the reason that it is usually comparatively more simple to achieve a strong weld between blocks of appreciable dimensions, the strong weld thus made adequately withstanding the rolling operations which reduce the thickness.

In any event, the finished blank, including the outer gold layers 25 is finally rolled out to the thickness desired for the pen point.

In the rolling, the depth of the individual sawtooth portions 21 remains substantially unchanged or increases, while the width of such portions decreases, as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the area of the joint is extended and the joined surfaces are disposed at only a slight angle to the plane of the finished sheet, so that they are better able to carry the stresses resulting from the subsequent use of the pen point.

The sheet stock is then ready for the stamping of the pen points therefrom. Fig. 5 shows the ultimate thinned-out blank, and the layout of the pen points therein, prior to stamping. The finished sheet or blank of Fig. 5, as it will be seen, comprises a sheet for which the forward part B, containing the heretofore-mentioned effective parts of the pen which must be protected against corrosion, is formed entirely from solid gold alloy, while the rearward portion A of the blank, from which the body 3 of the pen point is formed, comprises a relatively thick layer of base metal superficially covered by gold layers 25.

By the usual stamping and shaping operations, the pens are formed from the Fig. 7 blank. As such operations are well known, it is not necessary to describe them herein.

Fig. 4 shows another form of joint, this time of a tongue-and-groove type, which might be considered inferior in strength to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. It will of course be obvious that many other types of interlocking joints could be used between the blocks l5 and 11.

In the finished pen point, the nibs 5, including the channel 9 and the hole ii, and the point 1, are all made of solid gold, and are therefore not subject to the corrosive influence of the ink. The base metal inner layer in the body 3 of the pen is protected against undesirable corrosion on its surface by the layers of gold 25. In the finished pen, the edges of the body portion 3 have exposed portions of the base metal inner layer, .and a slight corrosion may take place along such edges. Such corrosion, however, is not deleterious when a reasonably corrosionresistant metal such as that hereinbefore described is used for the inner layer. In any event, the slight corrosion does not affect the writing characteristics of the pen point, as it does not occur at the so-called working portions of the pen. Furthermore, such edges of the pen point are generally out of sight when the pen is in use and the appearance of the pen is therefore not impaired.

In view of 'the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in carrying out the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A pen point comprising a body portion and nibs extending forwardly from said body portion, said nibs having therebetween an inkconducting channel, said nibs comprising an alloy of gold non-corrosive to ink, and said body portion comprising a base metal, said gold.

nibs and said base metal bodyportion being joined together in such a manner that the I strength of the pen point as a unitis substaneach of which has an integral part extending into the intermediate portion and there fiatwise overlapping a sheet extension of'the other portion; each said overlapping part respectively having thickness which is but a fraction of th thicknessof its own sheet.

3. A writing pen comprising a forward tion of gold of a practicable fineness, for holding a writing point; a rear portion of base metal;

and an intermediate portion at which the said forward and rear portions are joined together; said forward and rear portions being metal sheets each of which has an integral part ex p rftending into the intermediate portion, the gold and the base metal standing there in interleaved relation, the one embracing fiatwise opposite sides ofa part of the other.

4. A writing pen comprising a forward portion made of gold .of a practicable fineness, for holding a writing point, a rear portion made of base metal, and an intermediate portion composite of both gold and base metal; said intermediate portion having an intermeshing plurality of ridges and grooves both of gold and of base metal, wherein the side walls of the ridges and of the grooves are approximately parallel to the broad sides of the pen and are joined directly together.

5. A sheet stock .for the manufacture of pen points comprising a thin sheet, one edge region of said sheet comprising gold of a practicable fineness, and the opposite edge region of said sheet comprising a base metal, and an intermediate portion in which the edge regions are joined together, said edge regions each having an integral part extending into the intermediate portion and fiat-wise overlapping a similar part of the other region, each said overlapping part respectively having a thickness which is but a fraction of the thickness of its own-region.

6. A writing pen as set forth-in claim 2, in

which a thin plating of gold-is. provided on both sides of the pen extending'over both the forward and rear portion thereof. v 7. A sheet stock as set forth in claim 5, proof the sheet, said coating extending over both edge regions and the intermediate portion.

vided with a thin coating of gold over both sides 

